Formula 1: Verstappen enjoyed the first day of the Canadian GP

Max Verstappen amused the first day of action Canadian Grand Prixin Montreal, where he dominated the two free practices, confirming his favoritism as well as that of Red Bull, given that in the second act he took more than a second to his teammate, Checo Pérez, 11th, too far from the best of the session with which the Formula 1 activity ended before the rain was said to be present, at night, like Thursday.

In the second round there were no surprises why Verstappen was the best from the start stopping the clock in 1: 15.618 with new medium tires, the same conditions in which Checo Pérez drove but with which he could barely finish 770 thousandths, too far from his Red Bull teammate.

Even stronger was the next single lap of the Dutchman, with a time of 1: 15.096. But there was still no exit for the Ferrari track, where Charles Leclerc once again chose the soft tire to start the session and was 579 thousandths from the new record of the reigning champion of the category.

When ten minutes of free practice had already elapsed, the Spanish F1 suffered a technical draw, which Fernando Alonso won by a thousandth, finishing third ahead of Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari.

But it was Verstappen who was intractable, even with medium tires. The Dutchman was the first to drop the records to one minute and 14 seconds, as he finished his leading lap with 1m14s792, a time that would not have been the last for the best driver of the moment at just 24, while Lewis Hamilton, his main competitor until last year, was last, without time and modifying the configuration of his Mercedes to try to improve, even if at the end of the session he assured that it was “unmanageable”.

Those of Ferrari and Leclerc’s car are also working to improve, even if they ensure that they will not change the engine so as not to be penalized with ten positions on the starting grid, but rather they will work on it. It was not the choice of Alpha Tauri, where Yuki Tsunoda received four penalties for a completely new engine, with a new internal combustion engine and turbocharger, among other new technical elements, for which he will start from the bottom on Sunday.

With Verstappen with an overwhelming pace (1: 14.532), Sainz managed to finish second with the medium tire at 455 thousandths when he recorded an average of 20 minutes of training, in which several teams took the opportunity to make changes to reduce the rebound of the ground effect and thus avoid the penalty of the FIA, which wants to lower the cars by 10 millimeters, which would result in a lower performance of the car. A few minutes later, with the red tire, Leclerc improves it and takes second at 298 thousandths, still far from the pace shown by Red Bull.

Too bad for Valtteri Bottas, who due to technical problems he kept the helmet on but without time. At mid-session he was only able to go out for a spin, although he immediately reported on the radio that the problems with “something strange” continued and the team asked him to pit without being able to make a quick lap, so he finished. timeless.

While some worried, someone threw a party: Verstappen lowered all his times (in the first session he was 1m15s158) and nailed a 1: 14.127 in the standings leaving far behind his teammate, Checo Pérez, who could not match his pace and had to settle for 11th place, more than a second from Dutch.

Half an hour from the end, Leclerc seemed to find his return to his Ferrari, just 81 thousandths behind Verstappenwhile Sainz was third at 225 and Sebastian Vettel surprised with Aston Martin in fourth place, at 315. Fernando Alonso, third in the first free practice, remained close, in fifth place at 416, ahead of Pierre Gasly and George Russell, who once again beat his Mercedes teammate, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton (13th).

Unlike the Haas, which in the first free practice had been the worst with Kevin Magnussen 20th and Mick Schumacher two positions ahead, this time the Dane was 14th and the German, 15th, which compromised Williams, saved by ‘latest only from mechanical problems in Bottas’ car.

The activity will continue on Saturday, with the third test (2 pm) and the ranking (5 pm), while the race will take place on Sunday at 3 pm (Star +)